Memorial Temple of Lord Wen

Memorial Temple of Lord Wen

The Memorial Temple of Lord Wen is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Memorial Temple of Lord Wen was built to commemorate Wen Tianxiang, a renowned national hero and patriotic poet of the Southern Song Dynasty.

In the final years of the dynasty, Wen Tianxiang valiantly resisted the Yuan invasion, was captured, and taken to the Yuan capital (present-day Beijing). He was imprisoned in an earthen cell of the Military Command Prison for nearly four years before being executed at Caishi in 1283.

In the ninth year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1376), a memorial hall was constructed here by the deputy surveillance commissioner. It was officially included in the state sacrificial rites in the sixth year of the Yongle reign (1408). The temple underwent renovations during the Xuande and Wanli reigns of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of the Qing Dynasty, and continued to be restored during the Republican era.

The temple faces south and consists of three parts: the main gate, the passageway hall, and the main hall, covering a total area of nearly 600 square meters. The passageway hall displays an exhibition on Wen Tianxiang’s life, while the main hall houses some original relics from the temple as well as calligraphy and other artifacts by Wen Tianxiang. There is also an ancient jujube tree in the courtyard whose branches tilt southward—legend has it that it was planted by Wen Tianxiang himself.

In 1979, the Memorial Temple of Lord Wen was designated as a cultural relics protection unit of Beijing. It was renovated and opened to the public in October 1984. In 1995, it was refurbished mainly through donations from descendants of the Wen family.

Location

No. 63, Fuxue Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing